What to do while the motor is out
 

My winter project is to take the motor out of my '02.

It needs all new belts (timing and others), valve cover gasket, some paint, and a good cleaning. I also need to figure out where my coolant is going.
I've never taken a motor out, so I figured it would be a fun project.

What cheap/free things should I do to the car or motor while I have them separated? On my list already:

Paint the valve cover and intake manifold,
Paint (or ceramic coat) manifold and downpipe.
I have toyed with the idea of running hard lines for the coolant, and maybe the oil supply (I haven't looked, is that a bad idea?).
Get the return bung welded into the oil pan, since I think I'm leaking there at the moment.
Clean engine bay and neaten up wires and vacuum hoses.

I thought about building the motor while it was out, but I just can't swing the cost this winter, so the bottom end will stay stock for another year.

So, cheap/free things to increase reliability and image while the motor is out; go!

It's easier to run SS lines wrapped in fire sleeve than do hard-lines. No breakage with vibration, no fab work required, and they looked pretty flossin.

Ok, I like easier, and flossin (I think...). You mean for coolant, right?

I might be wrong but I think he means SS turbo oil drain. To run SS coolant I think -AN fitting need to be welded onto the coolant fitting on the motor. If I'm wrong let me know.

Remember that flexible lines are flexible for a reason. The engine moves on its mounts. The lines need to accomodate the relative movement between the car body/frame and engine.

Rear main seal

...a hard line going from the turbo (engine) connected to the oil pan (engine) and a hard line going from the turbo (engine) to the coolant lines at the front of the head (engine) will not be a big deal. Especially since usually on one end you will have a small bit of hose which is flexible.

On a side-note... is there anything I have to do before I pull the motor out if I'm going to change the timing belt? My only concern is the big bolt on the front of the engine just spinning the engine instead of coming out. Do I need to loosen that before I disconnect the driveshaft?

Would be a good idea:2cents:

Actually no. Put a transmission-motor bolt in one of the top holes I believe, and two in the flywheel itself. Then you can use some sort of breaker bar between the flywheel bolts and resting against the mounting bolt to hold the crank in place. Like this sorta ./' where the slash is the breaker bar and the period and apostrophe are the flywheel bolts.

Edit: to clarify my first statement, you don't need to loosen that big bolt while the engine is in the car, but older guy is probably right in saying its a good idea anyways.

Add a "proper" ground point for a normal sized braided ground strap in the pass fotwell->lower trans bolt.
Maybe it's just my setup that have grounding problems but the OEM small strap sure can get flaky (especially when you try to lift the car in it a couple of times).

I used a low power impact wrench for the crank pulley bolt while holding the flywheel with one of the flywheel bolts. Probably not the "right" way, but it worked.

I'm a rapper 'til I die, drink 'til I faint.

I dunno about in an MSM but older turbo bp's had hard supply/return lines to the turbo, oil drain line was rubber though. PITA to get on and off vs braided but no issues with them.

+1 for rear main, I just did mine.

You can use hardlines with something flexible in the mix, somewhere. However, I'd rather have braided stainless with fire-sleeve on my car, track cars see a lot more vibration than the typical MSM owner's car.

I second braided stainless + sleeve. A rubber line seems shady to me. Although to elaborate on my post above, by hardline I mean not rubber pretty much.

Pulling a motor? You must always clean the ever living ---- out of the engine bay and paint it. I painted mine with the motor in and just wasn't able to do it properly. Eventually I'm going to pull the motor to redo it all.

If you haven't already, start removing unnecessary surrounding elements (air bag junk, washer fluid bottle, evap crap, etc) as well.

I do intend to clean and de-clutter the engine bay. It's my summer DD so the convenience items like washer fluid, air bags, AC, and PS will stay, but I have no attachment to the emissions stuff so that will probably all go if I can figure it all out.

I don't think it needs to be painted, but I will touch up any spots that do.

with the manifolds off gasket matching your head and manifolds might be a good idea... not sure about the actual gains but i have done it on every motor ive owned

I'm not going to lie, I don't really understand what that means and what the benefits are.

put the gasket up to the head/manifold and hit it with some paint to mark where the gasket is. used a grinder or cutter and remove material(no more than an inch in). it makes manifold and port the same size and shape as the gasket. this makes for better/smoother flow.

kinda like this but i use paint so i dont mess up the gasket...kind of a poor execution on this guys part but it gives you a good idea of what im talking about